Alaska Senate race 2014: Dan Sullivan to run

Alaska Natural Resources Commissioner Dan Sullivan will resign the week after next to run for Senate, creating a three-way Republican primary that could divide establishment support in a top 2014 battleground.

Gov. Sean Parnell announced Thursday that he has accepted Sullivan’s resignation, effective Sept. 24, and praised his tenure both at the natural resources department and previously as the state’s attorney general.

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“Dan has been an instrumental part of my administration and his leadership will be missed,” Parnell said in a statement. “I wish him much success in the future.”

The comment is notable because it comes the same day that Parnell’s own lieutenant governor, Mead Treadwell, officially kicks off his own campaign with events around Alaska.

A source close to Sullivan confirmed that he will formally announce his campaign later this month.

Sullivan and Treadwell could divide the votes of primary voters concerned about electability, creating an opening for the return of tea party favorite Joe Miller – who beat Lisa Murkowski in the 2010 GOP primary only to lose to her write-in campaign that fall. The winner will take on Democratic Sen. Mark Begich, who narrowly won in 2008 just weeks after incumbent Ted Stevens was convicted of several felonies in federal court, which were later overturned.

Sullivan has been in Japan this week for meetings related to natural gas development and was unavailable for comment, his spokeswoman said. He returned to office just last week after a month in Afghanistan for the Marine Reserves.

Sullivan already has a team of consultants in the wings, and he is set to meet with several of them upon his return from Asia late Thursday night. Among those who have signed on are Michael Dubke of the Black Rock Group and ad maker Jon Downs of FP1 Strategies. Dan Hazelwood from Targeted Creative will do direct mail. Stampede Consulting will oversee the field operation.

“Both Mead Treadwell and Dan Sullivan are top-tier candidates capable of defeating Mark Begich in Alaska,” said a GOP operative. “We’re going to defeat Mark Begich, and Alaskan Republicans will get to decide who the next senator from Alaska will be in the primary.”

In his resignation letter, Sullivan enumerates eight things he’s done in state government that he said have made Alaska stronger, including “going on offense” in developing the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and “effectively fighting against federal overreach into the lives of Alaskans and our economy.”

The letter reads like an early outline of what he plans to run on.

“As I explore new opportunities and challenges in the next phase of my life, I intend to seek ways to continue to serve my fellow Alaskans,” he wrote the governor.

Democrats celebrated Sullivan’s announcement, which they think increases the odds that Begich will win reelection. The Alaska Republican primary is not until August, which means nearly a full year of infighting.

“There’s an all out Republican civil war in Alaska, and Republican officials in Washington are in disarray when it comes to this race,” said Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee deputy executive director Matt Canter. “[D]ivisive primaries are hurting Republican Senate hopes across the country.”